1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the balance adjustment of platters when assembling a hard disk drive, and more particularly to a method and device for balancing platters on the shaft of the spindle motor when fixing the platters on the spindle motor.
2. Related Art
The hard disk drive used as an auxiliary storage device for recording or retrieving information on and from magnetic disks by using read/write heads consists of a main base, a mounting frame with casing, a plurality of platters, a spindle motor for supporting and rotating the above platters, a plurality of magnetic heads (or transducers) for recording and retrieving data, an actuator for controlling the position of the above magnetic heads by means of a voice coil motor (VCM), circuitry for controlling the above actuator and electrical processing, and an interface for connecting the disk drive and the host computer.
A substantial problem in assembling such a hard disk drive relates to adjustment of the disk balance within the hard disk drive. Manual methods for adjusting this balance are quite time consuming and are subject to human error. As stated below, highly expensive balancing machines have been developed in order to balance check the platters of a hard disk drive, but a large amount of disk assembly time is generally required. Furthermore such balancing machines of the prior art are not only highly expensive, but also very complex. Thus, there is a need in the prior art for the development of a disk assembly method and device which is simpler and less complex, and which requires a smaller amount of disk assembly time.
The following patents are considered to be representative of the prior art relative to the invention described above, but are burdened by the disadvantages discussed above and below: U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,900 to Yamashita et al., entitled Centering Device Of An Optical Disk Player, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,272 to Maekawa et al., entitled Apparatus For Centering The Magnetic Disc In A Magnetic Disc Drive, U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,427 to Taguchi et al., entitled Apparatus For Positioning A Magnetic Disk On A Disk Drive, U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,107 to Tsukahara, entitled Microfloppy Disk Drive With Centering Mechanism, U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,927 to Ross, entitled Disk Centering Method And Apparatus For Centering Disks For Disk Drives, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,216 to Tsukahara, entitled Disk Drive Apparatus With Automatic Centering Arrangement, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,803 to Van Der Giessen, entitled Arrangement For Centering An Information Disc, U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,795 to Davis Jr. et al., entitled Information Storage System And Recording Cartridge Having Precise Alignment Features, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,648 to Roling, entitled Disc Centering.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk assembly method and device capable of adjusting the balance of the platters by means of a simple disk assembly jig when fixing the platters on the spindle motor of the hard disk drive.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk assembly method and device capable of reducing the disk assembly time and the production and maintenance cost by using a simple disk assembly jig for adjusting the balance of the platters.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk assembly device capable of guaranteeing the reliability of the hard disk drive by assembling the platters precisely in balance in such fashion as to prevent vibration during rotation thereof.
According to the present invention, a disk drive recording device consisting of at least two platters for storing magnetic recording data and a spindle motor rotating at high speed for mounting the platters is assembled by using pushing devices to push the platters toward the center of the spindle motor in respective directions to bring a portion of the inside circumference of the concentric center hole of each of the platters in contact with the outer circumference of the spindle motor so that the center of gravity of the platters coincides with a center axis of the spindle motor.